Going Down In Flames
by Unstable Firestarter
Summary: Chaos ensues when a new member joins Organization XIII: a hopeful but uncertain and rough relationship with another member, a bizarre Heartless attack, and other such trials. Axel/OC.
1. The Newest Member

**A/N:** Okay, so no one has ANY idea how long I've procrastinated on this. I started writing this like, literally a few days after I finished the Catalyst series-which is right when I started playing KH1 again and then started Re:CoM, neither of which I've finished yet-but I have finished KH2 x3; Anyway, yeah, this is my first Kingdom Hearts fic, and for some reason I positively hate this one, most of it, and I have nine chapters written already along with many other related and none related ideas. Sooo, no flames please, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all cause I'm already hating on it enough myself, lol. If I've messed up on anything, I'm sorry, I've re-edited this all so many times, fussing over everything. For some reason I'm so unsure about it all-perhaps too hard on myself? The first two chapters really suck in my opinion, then gets better in chapter three and WOW, I'm rambling, so I'll shut up now and let you get to the first chapter. Oh yeah, I do not own anything related to Kingdom Hearts, cause if I did, I'd have kidnapped a certain pyro and water elemental by now x3 Oh, and rated M now for future violence and language cause I'm like that x3 One last thing: pic of Xadnae is up on my DevientArt account, under Nicolai-The-Fallen.

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**Chapter One – "The Newest Member"**

The time was indiscernible-it was always night here, so it didn't really matter. At any rate, the figure on Curly Hill didn't care, even if they had been able to tell the time. The figure-a young woman-turned and danced at the very top of the hill, on top of the curl itself, lost in the world of the music issuing through the headphones of her iPod. She was wearing the typical Halloween Town style attire: thigh-high black and purple striped stockings under knee-high black boots, a short, pleated black skirt with a red belt, a black velvet corset laced with silk ribbon, elbow length black fishnet gloves and a black lace choker with a bat charm.

The impossibly large full moon above bathed the hill in a yellowy-silver light, making it beautiful despite its location. She could see the graveyard further down the slope, her dark jewel violet eyes drifting over the crooked and odd-shaped headstones. She tossed her head briefly in a futile effort to move her long bangs away from the left half of her face and then performed a graceful spin on one foot, like a ballet dancer. The rest of her long, messy green hair was pulled into a ponytail at the base of her neck, falling straight down her back to her waist.

Her lips moved silently as she mouthed the words to the music, closing her eyes and tilting her head back. She appeared completely at ease here, like a spirit, a creature of the night. By all rights, she should be at home here; Halloween Town was her world after all. Though she'd been born in a different holiday, she'd soon fled here-in the process becoming an outcast from her family, who couldn't understand her choice, and so had deemed her insane.

As she performed another spin, she saw a black void opening at the bottom of the hill. She stopped mid-step, narrowing her eyes slightly as she watched a figure emerge from the darkness, making their way up the hill towards her. A long black coat, with the hood pulled up to completely obscure the wearer's identity-there was no doubt about it; Organization 13. She pulled her ear buds free, resting the cords on her shoulders, and awaited whatever this member had to say.

"Xadnae; the Superior wishes to see you," an unfamiliar voice said-one of the members that she hadn't met yet.

Wordlessly, she nodded, turning off her iPod more than a little reluctantly.

"Don't make him wait."

Again she just nodded, wrapping the headphones cord around her iPod while she turned. She rolled her eyes when she was sure the unknown member couldn't see, and when they were gone, she slid down the side of the hill, to where a long black coat lay. Picking it up, she tucked her iPod into an inside pocket before sliding her arms into the long sleeves. She hadn't intended to leave this place just yet again, but it appeared she had no choice.

Pulling on the black gloves she'd had tucked into another pocket, she again looked around at the place that was her home. Before she had been branded an outcast, but that was before the day the Heartless had attacked. Her family was gone now, and she, well, she'd ended up like this. She finished zipping up her Org. coat, pulled the hood up, and vanished into the large black void that had appeared around her.

* * *

"You wanted to see me, sir?" she said respectfully after she'd emerged from a corridor of darkness in the Superior's quarters.

"Ah, Xadnae, I commend your swift response," Xemnas said with a thin smile, "I have a task for you."

"Yes, sir," she said, nodding her head slightly, her expression hidden in the shadows of her hood.

"I want you to investigate these worlds-" he held out a small square of paper to her, and she stepped forward, taking it quickly, "-Do not raise suspicion, simply gather information."

But he'd left something out-possibly on purpose, to see how she would respond. She was the newest member of the Organization after all; her loyalty and reliability were still being tested. Dare she ask? She had to.

"What information, exactly, sir?" she asked politely, turning her gaze away from his orange eyes, glad that her face was shadowed.

"The status of each world, and its likelihood to succumb to a Heartless invasion. I trust you can handle this task?" Xemnas said with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course," she said, nodding.

Turning, she created another corridor of darkness, and even as she was stepping through, she looked down at the list of worlds, scanning over each name: Agrabah, Port Royal, Wonderland, and Christmas Town. The last two were practically a joke-as if anyone in Wonderland or Christmas Town would be able to stop a Heartless invasion-the latter certainly hadn't been able to that day. Nonetheless, it was the assignment she had been given-a fairly simple and mundane task fitting for a neophyte.

* * *

Some time later would find her back in Halloween Town, once more on Curly Hill, though this time she'd kept her Org. coat on, and her iPod was stashed safely in the pocket still. Xadnae knew she was wasting time, but she didn't plan to sit here at the top of the hill long-and besides, Christmas Town was as close as heading down the road to the Hinterlands, and from there, the door to the eternal snowy holiday. The green haired young woman kicked her feet back and forth slowly, reaching up to pull her hood down and free her long hair from under the coat.

She didn't really want to go to Christmas Town-she disliked that place. There was a reason why she'd left it in the first place, after all. It was cold though, and there was snow all the time, that was the only plus to that world. She heaved a sigh, starting to get to her feet, but a voice made her stop.

"Don't you have a job to do?"

That voice sounded vaguely familiar, one of the other Org. members. She thought she remembered hearing that voice at the meeting after she'd officially joined the organization.

She looked around, trying to find the source of the voice, but saw no one. Looking down, she spotted a figure directly below her, underneath the curl, leaning against the side of the hill with their arms crossed, hood up, obscuring their identity. Her brows furrowing, she slid from the top of the hill, landing a few feet away from the unknown Org. member.

"Why should _you_ be concerned about _my_ assignment?" she said icily, her attitude completely different from when she'd been talking with Xemnas.

"Just making sure you haven't gotten lost already," her unknown visitor retorted, and she could have sworn they were smirking.

"I don't need to be patronized by you," Xadnae said flatly, a bit nicer, but not by much, "_Whoever you are_."

She started to turn, intending to make her way to Christmas Town, when her companion gave a soft sound that sounded like a laugh, and reached up to pull their hood back. Raising an eyebrow, she stopped, her gaze drifting over his face, taking in the spiky, bright red hair, vibrant aqua-green eyes, the tattoos under those piercing eyes. Placing one hand on her hip, she turned more towards him again, her body language saying she was impatient, and that he should hurry up whatever he had to say. He, however, decided to take his time.

"The name's Axel," he said with a smirk.

"Axel?" she repeated, trying out the sound of this.

"Yeah," he said, "Got it memorized?"

She managed to resist rolling her eyes, instead nodding. "Sure thing," she said in the same flat tone, "Now, as you pointed out, I have a job to do."

With that, she turned, dropping her hand back to her side, and made her way down the slope of Curly Hill. From there, she walked through the Graveyard, musing over her recent meeting. She knew she had plenty of other Org. members left to meet-though she'd been given a brief rundown of each member by the one who had discovered her, and she sifted through her memory until she came to the name she was searching for; Axel. The hotheaded one, the _Flurry of Dancing Flames_. She shook her head, moving down the path to the Hinterlands, and tried to put these thoughts out of her mind for the time being.


	2. Snow

**A/N:** Thank you so much for the review =D I think I was having some issues when I started this fic-it seemed barren somehow to me, and it feels much more fleshed out starting in the next chapter x3~ Oh, and yeah, I know Xadnae isn't too likable at first-or at least, she isn't to me-but she starts to 'thaw' next chapter as well xD

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**Chapter Two – "Snow"**

Xadnae walked slowly down the main street, her boots crunching into the freshly fallen snow. Everywhere she looked, the windows of the houses were brightly lit, and she could hear happy, laughing voices. It was just as she'd expected-and remembered; no one here was giving a second thought to defense or violence-they were all so peaceful, so eternally cheery. Her report on Christmas Town would be extremely short and simple. What would they do if they were attacked? Run and hide? Throw stuffed teddy bears and candy canes at the Heartless?

She disliked this place, disliked how everyone was always so happy, but most of all, she disliked these clothes-the ones she was wearing to blend in, so she wouldn't draw attention to herself; a long sleeved, knee length red velvet dress trimmed with white fur, ankle high red boots with white stockings, a red velvet choker, and the classic red and white Santa hat. She liked the snow though, so she was lingering longer than she had to as she passed by the large carousel that sat a short distance outside of Santa's house.

She paused for a moment, gazing in through a curtained window of one of the cozy houses, watching a happy family sitting down to dinner, a small boy and girl smiling brightly while the mother set a turkey on the table. After a second more, Xadnae turned away with an expression as though she were about to be sick, and continued down the road. Without stopping again, she moved to the outskirts of town, forcing her way through the snow as it became thicker on the ground. She reached the top of a hill, and it was there she stopped, spreading her Org. coat out on the snowy ground.

As she crossed her ankles, folding her hands behind her head, her long green bangs fell back from her eyes and she gazed up at the stars in the dark sky. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, remembering one of the reasons why she didn't like this place. Closing her eyes, she though back to the time when she should have just stayed in Halloween Town. That day-she didn't even remember how long ago now-she'd come back on the Christmas holiday for her brother only, since the rest of her family had severed all ties with her. Her brother had still cared, and that's why she'd been here when the small band of Heartless had attacked. The last thing she remembered was trying to protect him, the Heartless breaking through the basement door, shadowy shapes sliding between the wood and the floor, putting herself between them and her brother, and then…she'd awoken as a Nobody, her family gone.

"I didn't know you'd been assigned to take naps," said a playfully teasing voice.

She opened her eyes to find him leaning on his sitar, gazing down at her with a half smile. She surmised that the Melodious Nocturne had arrived from a corridor of darkness, since she hadn't heard any footsteps through the snow.

"It's so boring here," she admitted with a sigh as she sat up, drawing her knees to her chest, "There's not really much to investigate."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," the blonde said, plopping down on the snow beside her and laying his sitar down with care, "This world _is_ pre-tty dull. But what do you expect for a neophyte?"

She just nodded, knowing he was right, and reached up to move the white pom-pom on the end of her hat back, as it was annoying her. "I hate this place," she muttered.

"Then why're you still here?" he asked, bright blue eyes inquisitive.

"The snow," she said simply.

She was fully justified in her love of the cold-she was the Frozen Soul after all, which had been clearly shown when the blonde had discovered her. It hadn't been long after she'd become a Nobody, while she was still wandering around lost and alone. She had been making her way aimlessly past the large Christmas tree when he'd caught her off guard. Acting purely on the instinct of self-preservation, she had initiated combat, discovering that she had been gifted with the power of ice, and had very nearly turned him into a human popsicle. He had reacted defensively, dousing her with water as she attacked again, and she'd ended up freezing the water as it hit her, encasing herself in it. A humiliating defeat, but she hadn't been skilled with her abilities yet._ 'Xemnas definitely needs to see you,'_ he'd said, and after that, well, here she was.

"The snow, of course," he said with a nod, "And the outfit's a plus too."

Slowly, she looked over at him. "If you think it's so cute, Demyx, then here-" she reached up and pulled off her Santa hat, placing it none-too-gently over his blonde hair, "-you can wear this, because it's annoying me."

As soon as she had done so though, he'd plucked it off his head and set it on the snow between them, "It's not my style," he said, raking his fingers through his hair.

"Your '_style_'," she repeated, her tone jesting though she rolled her eyes.

They did this often-poked fun at each other. She found him likable, easy to talk to, and that was enough for her. It seemed the feeling was mutual-so to speak-or at least, that's how he acted-really though, how would one truly know with Nobodies? She was sure this all stemmed primarily from the fact that since he had discovered her and brought her to the Org, she was specifically in part, his responsibility.

"Well, as much as I'd like to stick around," he said, rising to his feet, "I have duties to attend to."

"You? Being responsible?" she said in mock surprise, raising an eyebrow.

He stuck his tongue out at her, "Yeah, you should try it sometime," he said.

"I'm responsible," she protested.

He was already vanishing into the corridor of darkness that he'd called up, and so didn't say anything more, merely shaking his head with a slight smirk.

For a second longer, she continued to gaze at the spot where he'd been standing, and then shook her head, turning her eyes down to the snow. Sighing, she got to her feet, taking her Org. coat in one hand, and fished the card with the worlds list on it out of one of the inside pockets. She scanned the list once more, even though she hadn't forgotten the names written on it, as she debated which world to head for next. She supposed she could go to Agrabah-at least she liked the clothes there better than she did here.

Returning the card to its pocket, she shrugged into her coat, zipping it up before stooping to snag the Santa hat she'd been wearing. She looked down at it a moment, pondering over something, and then looked to the snowman she'd passed by earlier, by the house with the happy family she'd seen sitting down to dinner. Utilizing the Nobody's gifts of darkness, she vanished in a flurry of black, reappearing next to the snowman in question, and placed the hat on its head. With something that might actually have been akin to a very faint, very rare smile, she vanished once more, this time heading to Agrabah.


	3. Can't Take The Heat

**A/N:** Thank you, thank you for the review ^^ Hehe, Axel, Demyx, Roxas and Zexion are my favorites x3 Demyx is so adorable. And love triangle? Hmm…not in this fic, but I DO plan on writing a fic aaaall about Demy. So, here we have chapter three. I like this chapter, especially the fight scene, though after seeing some parts of Re:CoM, I wanted to rewrite it, but forced myself to leave it alone, cause it's only a spar type battle. Aaaand, that wonderfully wordy insult that Axel throws at one point is courtesy of a friend of mine x3~

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**Chapter Three – "Can't Take the Heat"**

Arriving in the Arabian city of Agrabah, the nineteen year old Nobody shed her coat once more, throwing it back into the corridor she'd arrived from for safe keeping. In a few minutes, she was dressed fittingly for this world; a green and black belly-dancer's outfit that went well with her hair and complemented her dark violet eyes. She slipped out from the alley she'd arrived in, emerging onto one of the main streets, and became just another commoner in the crowds. The weather here was so much hotter than she preferred-she was a cold weather person, she found too much heat unbearable. Of course, what was too much heat to her wasn't that way to others. She was ice based in more ways than one, so it seemed.

Xadnae raised a pale, slim hand to shade her eyes from the glaring afternoon sun, looking around at all the different vendors and things they were selling. Beautiful golden jewelry, ripe fruits, luxury fabrics, cheap and pricey items were everywhere, just as there were people who were interested and buying, those interested but too poor, and those who just weren't interested at all. She passed by an elegantly dressed guard, noting the scimitar at his waist, and remembered how many-if not all-were armed, especially the palace guard. They might be able to hold off a Heartless attack fairly decently for at least a little while.

She looked up again suddenly as a vender stepped in front of her, holding a clucking chicken in his arms.

"I sell the finest chickens in all of Agrabah," he said with what she assumed was supposed to be a winning smile, though all it did was reveal a few missing teeth.

Why he thought she would be interested in buying a chicken was beyond her, but for the sake of things, she put up a pleasant façade. "I'm sorry, I'm not interested in a-" _chicken today_, she started to say, but another vender emerged through the crowd-also holding a chicken.

"Ah, good day madam," the second vender said with a smile that was more of a leer as he looked her up and down, "Please pay no mind to whatever this man has told you, because it is _I_ who sell the finest chickens in this fair city."

"I don't-" Xadnae started again, but was once more cut off.

"I believe _I_ was speaking to this charming young woman first," the first vender said, somewhat irritated as he turned to the second.

"But there is no law that says I cannot talk to her as well," the second said, his pleasant tone so fake it would have been obvious to anyone listening.

She looked back and forth from one vender to the other as they began arguing, clearly seeming to forget she was standing there. She quickly seized this moment and used it to her advantage, moving around them and trying to disappear into the crowd before they noticed. As she walked, she could hear them suddenly calling after her, but she simply acted as though she didn't hear them. She slipped down a side street, which led to another main one-which she was glad to see was devoid of vendors with chickens. At least within her sight, anyway.

She moved more slowly down this street, taking her time to gaze at everything that people were trying to sell to support themselves and/or their families, as well as more carefully surveying the people themselves. She wished she had some way to cover her head, a scarf or something; the heat was starting to get to her a little. She wasn't used to it, since she spent most of her time in Halloween Town, and she never had to worry about the sun there-nor did she ever have to worry at The Castle That Never Was, or any other place the Organization frequented. No place was as hot as this-it was the desert after all.

Agrabah was such a busy city, more than she was used to, but for now she didn't mind all the hustle and bustle, the cacophony of sounds. It would take longer for that to get to her than the heat did. There always seemed to be something interesting going on, she'd noticed, just from the few streets she'd wandered down, and she was sure she'd never be bored here if she was ever around for an extended amount of time. Of course, if she was, she'd find some way to remedy how fast the heat affected her. Deciding to observe from the shade for a bit, she went to turn down a covered alley, and walked straight into someone, causing her to take a step back from the impact.

"_You_," she said accusingly as soon as she spotted the long black coat and flaming red hair, "Are you stalking me now?" As she spoke, she moved around him, entering the blissful shadows created by the mud bricks overhead.

"Not unless you want me to be-" she shot him a dark look, but he appeared completely unfazed, "I'm just keeping an eye on you-you _are_ the neophyte after all."

"Yeah, sure," Xadnae muttered, crossing her arms as she leaned back against the cool wall, "Or it could just be that you don't trust me."

The redhead regarded her silently for a moment, his previous friendly expression fading away. "Maybe I don't," Axel conceded.

She just shrugged-her turn to be unfazed, "I _am_ new," she said, "That's why I've been given this all important job, to prove myself to the Organization-what, is there something else?" she added upon noting the way he was looking at her now, as though she were a puzzle box or a specimen in a glass jar.

"You're a tough one to figure out," he said with a slight shake of his head, though she still felt there was something hostile about his demeanor right now.

She snorted softly; figure her out? What was there to figure? Though his words gave her the impression that he'd been 'keeping an eye on her' for longer than she'd been aware. "Well, good luck with that," she said, uncrossing her arms and turning to start down the alley, "Pyromaniac creep," she added under her breath, intending the comment to only be for herself.

"Says the little girl whose sole talent is giving people chills."

She stopped still at his words, a muscle in her cheek twitching. Two things ran through her head at that moment; _he'd heard her comment_, and _little girl? _She supposed she should have just let it go and continued on her way, but she didn't. Slowly, she turned back to him, her eyes narrowed slightly. "What was that, flame boy?" she asked with mock pleasantness.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware you were hard of hearing," he said, his tone anything but apologetic, "I said your powers are a joke."

There was no skirting around it; his words were blunt, straight to the point. In a way, it was only fair-she should have said her initial comment more quietly or not at all, and she supposed she should have just backed down and tried to smooth things over-he was many ranks higher than her, after all-but she didn't.

"Look who's talking; I bet a candle burns hotter than your flames," she retorted. Of course, she had no idea what she was getting herself into-she'd only ever seen Demyx's powers, and heard about the rest of the Org, while they'd all seen a little demonstration of hers before she was inducted. "You're just a hot-headed, arrogant creep. And your hair looks like a porcupine," she added as an after thought, her gaze flickering to his shocking red locks.

He looked at her for a moment, and she could tell it was taking a second for him to realize that she'd insulted his _hair_. However, he was quick with a come back of his own. "Well, you look like an ugly man who stays inside all the time, only you don't have bug eyes or blonde hair, but you're still just as UGLY! Got it memorized?"

She blinked, her brows furrowing together as she experienced a moment of pure confusion trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about. She still processed the point of it though, and her eyes narrowed another notch. "So you don't deny that your flames are contemptible," she said with a slow smirk.

"Please," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "I could melt you in a second."

"Is that so?" she said challengingly, crossing her arms over her chest and regarding him with her dark eyes.

"I'd let you find out, but I don't think you'd be able to take the heat, and I wouldn't want to see anything happen to our newest member," he said, but his tone was clearly mocking.

"Or maybe _you_ wouldn't be able to take the _cold_," she said with a sneer and started to turn, unafraid to put her back to him.

It happened very fast then. She had a split second to register movement behind her, another split second to realize that his gloved hands were now wrapping around her upper arms, and darkness engulfed her vision as she was dragged into the Corridors with him. When she was free of both again, she was slightly uneasy to find that there was nothing but sand stretching away from them in all directions-she couldn't even see the city of Agrabah from here. The sun felt like it was even brighter and hotter than before, and the white sand was scorching beneath her thin, black, silken shoes. The green haired Nobody turned towards where Axel stood some yards away, regarding her with all seriousness.

There wasn't any other explanation for this than the thoughts that crossed her mind, so she didn't even bother asking. She'd somewhat been expecting this, but not quite so suddenly-or at this exact moment. This wasn't exactly the best time for a spar-given the heat and her reaction to it already, but she couldn't back down now-it would be seen as fear and weakness. So instead she stood there silently, taking this moment to size him up; _physically_ he didn't look very strong, being tall and so slim, but she was probably going to end up being wrong about that. At any rate, she'd have more important things to worry about.

"This is your chance-don't waste it," the redhead said, his twin chakram materializing in his hands with a heat-wave like shimmer.

Xadnae smirked slightly, her own ice spear forming in her grasp, the shaft long and slender, ending in duel elegantly scrolling tips that appeared to be made literally from ice. "Oh, I won't," she replied, as she spoke forming a layer of cool air around her to drive back some of the heat, and the moment she did, she started to feel better.

"And don't worry about holding back, I don't mind a little chill," he added smugly with a wink.

She refused to answer this time, letting her actions speak for her, and slashed her spear through the air, sending a wave of multiple icicles flying to cut through the desert heat. Before they'd even made it halfway across the distance between them, he was no longer standing there, instead vanishing into darkness. Gritting her teeth, she whirled about just as he reappeared behind her, raising her spear and bracing it with both hands in time to block one of his chakram as he swung it at her. Taking a step back to better balance herself, she deflected his second, and then leaned forward for a stabbing attack that missed by a mile as he once more teleported out of the way.

She spun towards where Axel was materializing, only to be forced to dive out of the way to avoid a fireball. Tucking into a roll as she hit the hot sand, she sprang lightly back up to her feet, with a concentrated thought sending a wave of icicles towards the redhead that speared up from the ground swift as lightning, forcing _him_ to dodge this time. Xadnae began to repeat the attack process, but was interrupted when he threw one chakram at her. She retreated into the corridors for a split second, reappearing again after the weapon had passed, the sharp points embedding into the sand.

Sending another line of icicles cutting through the air, she dashed towards him, intending to keep him separated from his second weapon, at least for a few moments. She should have known the attempt would be futile, which it was, as he simply turned her spear aside, landing a high kick to her shoulder that knocked her off balance on the soft sand. In the few precious seconds it'd taken for her to regain her footing, he'd been reunited with his chakram, and by the time she'd turned to face him, he held both out at his sides, a devious, knowing glint in his eyes.

Flames ignited along the weapons, and one after the other he threw them at her with perfect aim. She sprinted to the side to avoid the first, pivoting to knock away the second, but she failed to notice the return trip of the first, and so the tips cut a shallow wound through the side of her arm. She hissed through her teeth at the pain, but otherwise ignored it, focusing her thoughts on ice. Multiple jagged spears ripped up through the sand all around Axel, and some came so close she was sure they had to connect in some way, but for the most part he appeared to evade them.

Xadnae moved in closer, her 'bubble' of cold air that surrounded her still protecting her from the blazing heat of the desert, and slashed her spear down like a sword at the spot where the redhead was. Her blow hit only emptiness, and she spun, keeping him in sight in the corner of her eye. She swung again, this time the shaft of her spear connecting, landing a blow across the middle of his back. Pulling in for a follow up swing, she suddenly found only diminishing wisps of blackness, and gave a soft sound of annoyance, turning until she'd caught sight of him again.

She started to dash towards him, but something made her stop, some needling thought that told her she should heed the brief warning look that flashed through his aqua-green eyes. It ended up being good that she did, as he spread his arms, chakram held in outstretched hands, and pillars of fire erupted from the ground, their heat from a distance even causing her to recoil a step or two. The flames were radiating outward now, turning the sand into glass wherever they touched, and she acted quickly, thrusting the tip of her spear into the ground, causing a large, jagged wall of ice to shoot upward. This ice was her barrier from the flames, shielding her from their heat, but she could hear the frozen water sizzling and hissing from the high temperatures.

All at once, the ice shattered-or maybe exploded would be a better way to put it-the force and abruptness catching her off guard, making her take a few steps back, raising one arm to shield her face in case any shards had the intention of blinding her. She recovered quickly though, willing and ready to fight off the flames with more ice, and started to do so until a wall of fire ignited behind her, sending her reeling. The heat from it washed over her, threatening to destroy her cold air pocket, and she quickly moved back from it. Even as she did so, more flames came to life, boxing her in, reaching up to the sky. It was still a large area within the walls of fire, but it was swiftly becoming hot, and she could feel her cold air quite suddenly evaporate.

She turned, again, and again, but all she saw was fire, and she uttered a soft sound-this time of discomfort. Xadnae gathered her thoughts, focused hard on cold air, but no matter how many times she tried, it dissipated within seconds. Turning again, she saw Axel regarding her coolly with a raised eyebrow, having obviously been watching her small moment of panic. She narrowed her eyes, which were beginning to sting anyway from the heat, and sent multiple ice formations towards him-from the ground, the air, the sides-only to watch with disdain as he evaded, burned, or deflected every last one, until finally it was too hot for her to call forth any more.

Forcing a thin layer of ice over her skin in an attempt to stay cool, she started towards him, though he'd reached her before she'd taken more than three steps over the sand-turned-glass that crunched under foot. She drew back a step as the redhead teleported to right in front of her, preparing to defend herself as he raised his chakram. However, he threw them downward, each weapon embedding into the ground on either side of her. Her breath becoming short, she eyed him wearily, but then followed suit, stabbing the tip of her spear into the sand.

For someone who wasn't supposed to feel emotions, she was quite certain it was hatred flooding through her veins right now-hatred at the way he was completely unfazed by this heat, these flames, while she was forcing herself just to stay on her feet and fight. She wasn't going to quit though, and it was with that thought that she threw a swift punch. He ducked to the side, and she lashed out with a kick that caught him across the back, the same spot-she thought-that she'd hit him with her spear shaft earlier. Actions, blows, dodges, movements, all started to blur together as the heat started to really get to her, feeling like it was burning inside her brain, melting her thoughts together. After becoming a Nobody, she'd discovered that her body temperature ran a few degrees lower than it should, and though she had no idea what her temperature was right now, she was sure it was way too high for her.

She didn't even feel whatever blow felled her, only remembered falling to her knees, her palm hitting crushed glass as she tried to stop herself from falling all the way. Her chest felt tight, her lungs constricted, and she rocked back, sitting on her legs as she swayed. The fun and games was all over now, and whether he was aware of it or not, her life was becoming endangered from this heat. Through blurred vision, she watched him walk towards her, and she forced herself to speak.

"Alright…I give…the heat…can't breathe…" she managed, blinking rapidly, trying to clear her sight.

Was it just her imagination, or did the flame walls suddenly disperse when she said that? Was it also just her imagination when she saw an expression of concern flicker through his eyes? It must have been, right? The latter at least, because otherwise that would be a very strange occurrence for someone else who wasn't supposed to have emotions. Either way, it was the sight of his aqua-green eyes that she remembered last before she passed out.


	4. Sentenced

**Chapter Four – "Sentenced"**

Xadnae awoke to a gentle splash of cold on her face, and the shock of it made her gasp for a second as her eyes snapped open. The first thing that occurred to her was that she was in the shade, her back leaning against something-the outer wall of Agrabah, perhaps, and the second thing was that it was water dripping down her face. Turning her gaze to the side, she saw Demyx crouched beside her, an unreadable expression in his blue eyes-concern perhaps? But again...

"Where is he?" she asked, her voice soft and hoarse.

"Not _here_, that's for sure," the blonde replied, guessing immediately who she meant, "He told me I'd find you here though."

"Well wasn't that _nice_ of him," Xadnae said dryly, trying to ignore the pounding that was starting in her temples now.

Demyx sighed a bit, taking her hands and cupping them in front of her as she seemed too out of it at the moment to move herself, "You two got into it pretty bad, huh?" he said, holding his hand over hers until a small pool of cool, crystal clear water had formed.

"Yeah, you could say that-oh…thanks," she said gratefully, taking quick sips of the water.

"What'd you do, piss him off?"

"I guess," she said with a shrug-one would think Nobodies wouldn't be prone to such an emotional thing like that. The water was cool and soothing to her throat, which felt as though someone had rubbed it raw with sandpaper.

The blonde shook his head, "You gonna be alright?"

She nodded, forcing herself to stand, "Yeah," she said, leaning back against the wall as her legs felt weak, "I'm just going to get some rest, and then I'll be able to finish my assignment."

"You sure?" Demyx asked, rising as well.

She nodded mutely, calling up a corridor of darkness to take her to Halloween Town. As soon as she arrived though, she stumbled, quickly throwing out a hand to catch herself before she went down. She'd arrived in her house-if it could indeed be called that; a simple, one story place that sat on tall stilts with a crooked stairway leading up to the front door. The roof was crooked too, but then again, not many things were straight here.

Her vision was slightly blurred, and her skin felt hot and tight, making the throbbing in her head worse. She managed to amble into the bedroom before collapsing-luckily landing on the bed with its black and violet sheets. She lay where she had fallen, sprawled face down across the bed, and let her eyes slip closed. She knew what was happening-what it must be anyway since she'd never experienced this before; she was sick from the heat, heat exhaustion. Some rest and she'd be okay though, she'd be able to finish her assignment-and maybe it would diminish the pain in her temples as well. Within moments, she was asleep again.

* * *

Violet eyes blinked open as she rolled over, stretching out on her back. She had no idea how long she'd been out, but at the very least her headache felt better-the pain was manageable now. She still felt too hot though, her mouth dry and her throat raw, and raised a slightly shaking hand to her forehead. Her palm was clammy, and it made it difficult to tell just how hot she was, but at any rate it wasn't good. The teenage Nobody forced herself to her feet, making her way to the bathroom. She paused for a moment to gaze into the oddly shaped mirror, and saw that her eyes were bloodshot. Shaking her head slightly, slowly, she proceeded to take a cold shower-very cold. It made her shudder, which was unusual for her, but it felt good on her skin, soothing as it washed away the grit of the desert sand and the blood from the wound on her arm.

Dressing in her everyday Halloween Town attire, Xadnae tended to her wound, wrapping a few layers of gauze around her arm to cover it, and then made her way back to the bed, where she'd laid her Org coat and gloves. She told herself that she was feeling better as she shrugged into the long sleeves of the black coat, that her skin didn't feel so hot, and her muscles so weak. For the moment she seemed to be fooling herself, and she zipped up the coat before reaching for her gloves. It was just as she was pulling these on that a corridor of darkness opened near the doorway, and she looked up with disdain upon noting the red hair.

"That's called trespassing you know," she quipped as she stood, "But what, exactly, brings you to my humble abode?"

"It looks like we're going to be working together; I've been assigned to your task as well," Axel said, crossing his arms and leaning back against the door frame.

"Well that's great," she said flatly, forcing herself to stand straight and act like nothing was wrong, "I don't need your help."

"It doesn't matter if you do or not," he said with what could have been a small laugh, "It's my sentence-you're stuck with me."

_His sentence?_ Sounded more like hers too. She raised an eyebrow. "For what?" she asked.

He gave a brief, humorless grin, "Nearly killing the new member. The Superior said to work out our differences or else."

_Or else…._ That threat didn't need to be finished, but at least now she knew who was to blame for her being stuck with the pyro. "I guess we're going to have to learn to get along then," Xadnae sighed.

She knew what had happened earlier had been uncalled for, but she was not about to apologize, just as she was sure he had no intentions of doing so either. They'd just have to forget about it and move on-and who knew, maybe they actually _would_ end up getting along.

"We don't have a choice," he reminded her, and she sighed again, waving a hand.

"Looks like it's back to Agrabah," she said. She hadn't finished there after all-she'd only just started when she'd run into him.

"The report for that world's done," Axel said.

She raised her brows at this news. "It is?" she said, not having expected this. "Well, alright." She knew she should thank him, but she wasn't yet in the mood to utter those words.

"Then I guess it's off to…" she stopped, trying to remember the names of the other two worlds she'd been assigned to investigate, but they escaped her. Frowning slightly, she blamed this lapse in memory on her heat sickness and fished the card with the worlds on it out of her pocket. As she did so, she inadvertently knocked her iPod from the same pocket, though didn't notice the small device as it hit the floor, her attention focused on the list of worlds. "Wonderland," she finished with a slight grimace-that place was nearly as bad as Christmas Town.

"You got some of the worst worlds to report on," he commented with a slight shake of his head as she returned the card to her pocket.

"Yeah," was all she said, taking a few steps forward.

As she did so, he noticed her iPod on the floor, and was quick to snatch it up before she could react. "What do we have here?" he said as the small screen lit up.

"Give it," Xadnae said wearily, making a grab for it.

The redhead easily held it up out of her reach though. "Easy now, I'm not going to do anything to it," he said.

She made another grab for it, and again he held it away from her as he tried to see what she'd last been listening to. She swayed on the spot as she was slightly off balance from her attempt, and fought to steady herself so that she wouldn't pitch forward against him-that would be all she needed. Regaining her footing, she allowed the momentarily abduction of her iPod, holding out one hand expectantly for it. With a slight shake of his head, he gave it back to her, his gloved hand brushing hers in the process.

"What?" she asked, ignoring the contact and stowing her iPod safely in her inner coat pocket again.

"I prefer rock myself," Axel said.

She just blinked at him for a moment as she processed this. "You'd be surprised," she said, "But enough; let's get this over with."

As she called up a corridor around herself, a troubling thought wormed its way into her heat muddled mind, and she frowned before forcing it away.


	5. Killing New Members Wouldn't Look Good

**A/N:** Thank you for the favs and such ^^

* * *

**Chapter Five – "Killing New Members Wouldn't Look Good"**

Alright, so maybe Wonderland _wasn't_ nearly as bad as Christmas Town. Sure it had its fair share of cute and happy inhabitants, but it also had some strange ones, and some downright dangerous ones-such as the Queen of Hearts who was always shouting, 'Off with his head!' or, 'Off with _her_ head!'. Surely a somewhat rabid queen who had people beheaded every other day if not more often was _not_ cute or happy. It was also a wonder that Wonderland had any inhabitants left at all when one considered it. Due to said queen, the two Nobodies, upon arriving, had decided that it would be best _not_ to blend in, but rather attempt to remain completely unnoticed.

Xadnae particularly liked this for a couple of reasons-the main one being that she didn't have to try and fit in while in her current state. The next best one was that she could keep her hood up the whole time they were here, meaning she could easily hide her heat sickness from the redhead. Any other time she probably would have found this boring-lurking around in the shadows merely hiding from the inhabitants, with no real chances to openly wander about and do anything interesting, but now she was grateful for it. She didn't have to worry about talking much, or pretending she was interested in any random comments he made, though she had to continuously dissuade him from causing random mischief-such as getting the cards in trouble, or tripping the white rabbit as he ran past them once, babbling about how he was late again.

"You do remember that I outrank you, right?" Axel said with a raised eyebrow, "And by that right can't take orders from you?"

She tilted her head back so that she could see him from under the edge of her hood, since she was sitting on the grass with her back against a tree trunk. "_Xemnas' orders_ were not to raise suspicion," she reminded him, her throat hurting to even say that little bit.

"Having a little fun and raising suspicion are two different things. Unless you're as uptight as he is," the redhead said.

Xadnae didn't say anything more, just waved her hand to show that she didn't really care. She leaned her head back against the tree, letting her eyes close, and struggled not to fall asleep again. Apparently she lost that war, as what felt like a second later she awoke with a start when her head hit the ground, and she opened her eyes to find that she had slid over. Pushing herself back up, she tried to focus on creating a cold air pocket around herself like she had before in Agrabah, but the attempt only made her headache return. Looking over, she saw Axel watching her, and scowled.

"What?" she muttered, really hoping he didn't notice.

"You seem off," he said.

"I'm fine," she replied, hopefully convincingly, and rose to her feet. "I'm going to go…investigate other sections."

With that excuse, she disappeared into darkness, reappearing in the woods where close by there was a mad tea party in progress. She could hear the quirky voices of the guests, but was too far away to make out the actual words. Not that it mattered to her anyway-she didn't have to overhear their conversations for her purpose here, nor did she currently care. The green haired teenager's head was throbbing again, and it was an effort to continue standing on her weak legs. Apparently that cold shower she'd taken earlier hadn't helped as much as she'd thought it did, nor did fooling herself into thinking that she was fine to carry on with her assignment.

All at once, she lost her balance, starting to pitch forward, and there was no tree close enough for her to brace herself against except for the one behind her that was out of her reach now. Just when she was resigned to falling, there was suddenly a flurry of darkness in front of her as a corridor opened and Axel emerged, quickly catching her by the shoulders.

"Great," Xadnae muttered, attempting and failing to glare at him, "You always know when I don't need you around."

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, or maybe demanded would have been a better term for his tone, as he braced her back against a tree.

"Nothing," she said, trying to push him away, "I'm fine."

"Look at me," he said harshly, putting his hands on the sides of her face and tilting her head back until she met his gaze.

She was somewhat taken aback by what she saw in his eyes; he seemed…angry, though she had no idea why he would be.

He pulled her hood down to see her face better, noting her flushed cheeks, and-"Your eyes are bloodshot," he said in that same harsh tone.

"It's your fault," she managed to accuse as the redhead removed one of his gloves.

"What?" he demanded, laying his ungloved hand against her forehead-"You're burning up."

"You were right-I can't take the heat," she said, his touch cool and soothing compared to how hot she was.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Axel questioned.

"What don't tell me you actually _care_," she said darkly, trying to blink away the fact that there was now two of him standing there.

"Of course I don't," he replied just as darkly, putting his glove back on.

"Than why are you so _upset_?" she demanded through gritted teeth, closing her eyes tightly and hoping there would only be one of him when she opened them again.

"I don't want to be responsible for your death," the redhead said, "Killing new members wouldn't look good."

Cautiously Xadnae opened her eyes again, relieved to discover that her moment of double vision had passed. "I'm not going to _die_; I just need to cool down. Then I'll be fine."

He gazed at her darkly for a long moment, as if debating over something. "What do I have to do?"

She blinked at his words, raising her eyebrows. "I thought you didn't take orders from lower ranks," she said.

He shot her a look, the intensity of his aqua-green eyes making her shrink back slightly, though she didn't have much room to go anywhere.

"I don't need your help," she said, "I just need to get to Christmas Town-which I can do on my own."

"Bull. You can barely stand," Axel countered.

"I can walk fine," the younger Nobody insisted, knocking his hands away and stepping around him.

She'd barely taken a few steps though when she lost her balance again, her legs weakening, and he caught her as she started to fall.

"The hell you can," he muttered, picking her up in his arms.

Xadnae opened her mouth to protest, but quickly shut it at the look he gave her-just daring her to challenge him again. Refusing to touch him any more than she had to though, she crossed her arms over her chest, averting her gaze. She hated this; being treated like a damsel in distress who couldn't take care of herself-she was more than capable of reaching Christmas Town on her own!

He opened a corridor of darkness, and within seconds they were in the frozen landscape of Christmas Town, on the bottom slope of a hill, over which she could just see the tops of buildings in the distance. She breathed in the cold air deeply, welcoming it as it washed across her skin.

The redhead set her down on the snow, and she immediately set about making a sort of little 'cocoon' for herself-a small hollow that she could curl up in, but not be covered by, since snow acted as an insulator after all. Watching her, he took a few steps back, crossing his arms. It was so cold, so deliciously cold-to her, at least. It still made her shudder, just like the cold shower had, but she knew she had to deal with it until her body temperature returned to normal. Pulling her hood up over her head, she curled up on her side, fussing with the snow until it was 'just right'.

"Don't think for one minute that I've gone soft on you," Axel said, and she tilted her head to look over at him.

"Wherever would I have gotten _that_ idea?" she said scathingly, her eyes starting to grow heavy again.

"Just so we're clear," he said.

"Yeah, sure," she muttered, her eyes closing. Within seconds, she was asleep.

* * *

When she stirred later, it was without pain, though there was still a faint ache in her temples. She opened her eyes slowly, looking to the snow that was falling, and had already covered her with its white blanket. Her thoughts were clear, sharp, un-muddled by heat, and her skin no longer felt like it was burning. Shifting her head slightly, she looked around-and to her surprise, saw a figure sitting a short distance away, arms resting on their knees, head slightly bent. The hooded coat obscured their face, but she could see a stray lock of red hair and knew at once who it was. He had stayed…? Why…? She was sure that he disliked the cold as much as she disliked the heat, given his fire element.

She sat up slowly, brushing snow off of herself, and pushed her own hood back. That troubling thought was back again, and this time it was harder to dismiss it. She still felt a little weak, she noted, but for the most part she was quite certain that she'd be fine. He wasn't aware that she was awake yet, and she decided to take advantage of this. However, as she went to scoop a handful of snow, she suddenly realized that her fingers were numb, and she stopped. This had never happened to her before-snow and ice were her friends, she'd never been hindered by them. She supposed it was all to blame on being sick from the heat.

"This is new," she said aloud, her throat still raw but not as painful as before, as she tugged her gloves off, looking down at her pale, numb hands.

Axel looked over at the sound of her voice. "What's new?" he asked, not really curious, but checking to be sure she was alright.

"I can't feel my hands," she replied, and there was a spark in her violet eyes that hadn't been there before.

"That's not something to be happy about," the redhead said, stretching before he got to his feet.

"It's just…odd," Xadnae said, still sitting on her knees in the snow.

He sighed when he reached her, pulling her to her feet. Holding her hands between his own, he shot her a warning look. "I have _not_ gone soft on you," he said again, "Got it memorized?"

For a second, she had the absurd urge to laugh, but pushed it away as her hands quickly began to warm between his. "Yeah, sure," she said, but her tone was light, and she looked away over the snowy landscape.

There was that thought again, nagging at the back of her mind, and she decided to speak on it. "Axel…" she said slowly, "You ever think that we can still feel? Have hearts even?"

He was silent, and she looked back to him, trying to read his expression through the shadows created by his hood. "Of course not," he said, releasing her hands and turning away, "Don't ask stupid questions."

"…Oh," she said, dropping her hands to her sides and lowering her gaze.

"Stop wasting time, we've got more work to do," Axel said after a moment.

"Yeah," she said quietly, turning to retrieve her gloves from where they lay in the snow.


	6. The Mind Lies

**Chapter Six – "The Mind Lies"**

They'd returned to Wonderland for a last assessment since before their visit had been cut short by her heat sickness, and then moved on to the last world on the list-Port Royal. Xadnae was feeling much better now-just a few twinges here and there-and it showed in her brightened attitude. Every once in a while she ended up with a brief coughing fit, but whether it was from the heat, or the fact that she slept in snow for a few hours, was uncertain. She hadn't said a word more about hearts or feelings since back in Christmas Town-not with the way he'd reacted, and he seemed to have forgotten all about it by now.

She found that she liked Port Royal; it was dark, dangerous, and interesting. There was cannon fire and pirates galore-a lot of them of the cursed, skeletal kind, but still. The best part of all? She could simply wear her Org coat and no one gave her a second glance. Okay, maybe a few people did, but it was likely for the sole fact that she was a teenage girl walking about at night with the dangers they had currently-or maybe it was just because of her green hair. Or, maybe, just maybe, it was the hooded figure that walked beside her like an angel of death-because for some reason Axel had something against lowering his hood right now.

At any rate, she didn't mind any of it, nothing fazed her right now-it was like she had been born with a new attitude since awakening from the snow. She wound her way between buildings and crates and other such obstacles, observing everything as she made her way towards the docks. The cool breeze coming in off the ocean, the smell of the salty air, was nearly as good as the cold snow.

There was shouting up ahead, she could hear running steps, clashing metal, and proceeded forward through the shadows to see what was going on. It was fighting, obviously, as Xadnae saw a few moments later; a band of cursed pirates attacked a small group who were clearly not. She watched the violence emotionlessly, the sounds of cannons in the distance all melding together to become simple background noise. She supposed later that she should have paid more attention to her surroundings, because a split second later when Axel grabbed her around the waist and pulled her backwards, she had no idea what was going on. However, she suddenly noticed right before blackness engulfed her vision; a cannonball, of course, one of the sounds she'd dismissed as being far away and harmless.

She pitched over in the darkness, unable to hold her balance, and started to fall, the sound of an explosion echoing in her ears as they reappeared a short distance away from where she'd been standing. As rubble and chunks of brick rained through the air, she raised her arms instinctively to cover her face, even though Axel had rolled over her, seemingly in an effort to protect her-though she was sure he would deny this if questioned about it.

"God dammit! Are you trying to get yourself killed?" the pyro demanded angrily, gazing down at her.

Xadnae lowered her arms from her face, gazing fearlessly into his fiery eyes. "You seem to have a knack for this sort of thing," she replied coolly.

"Like I said; I don't want to be responsible for your death. As pleasant as it would make my existence, how would I explain to Xemnas that I let the Org's newest member be obliterated by a cannon?" he retorted.

"That hurts, really," she said dryly, seemingly already over the fact that she could have been killed just now, "But I-"

Someone close by clearing their throat loudly interrupted her, and she turned her head, her gaze traveling up. She sighed when she saw the small gathering of five pirates. She could just guess that they weren't of the friendly variety-if such a thing as a friendly pirate existed.

"We have company," she finished.

Axel looked up as well, and in a second was on his feet.

She stood as soon as she was able to, attempting to smooth some of her even messier hair down, before regarding the group. The cloud that had been covering the moon until that moment continued on its way through the night sky, and the direct silver light revealed the pirates for what they really were; cursed. She wondered how much suspicion fighting them would cause-possibly not much if it was done swiftly and discreetly. With this thought, she stepped forward, waving a hand to Axel.

"I can take care of this," she said without looking back, her ice spear forming in her hands, "I can do this much more subtler than you."

He raised an eyebrow, taking a step back, "By all means, go ahead."

It was then that she attacked, her spear cutting through the air, parrying, blocking, stabbing. From a distance, in the dark, it would appear as a simple sword fight, which was her intention. Of course, they were cursed pirates, so they weren't that easy to kill, but she could prevent them from getting back up again for a while. It didn't take her long to incapacitate all five of them, as she displayed much more skill and strength than when she'd fought before in the heat. In a matter of moments, all of the skeletal pirates lay sprawled across the ground, some of them in pieces, and she turned away, her spear dispersing into thin air.

"Piece of cake," she said smugly.

The redhead nodded, "Not bad," he said.

"And for the record," she added, walking past him, "I am _not_ trying to get myself killed."

Growing tired of walking, she quickly teleported to the location she had her eye on-a quieter section that wasn't prone to be pummeled by cannons. She sat at the edge of the docks, her feet dangling over the edge, and a moment later a black void opened next to her, delivering the ever-unshakable pyro. She refused to look at him though, keeping her gaze on the roiling waters of the ocean.

"Thanks…" she said at last, her voice barely audible.

He heard her though, and looked over, "For what?"

"You know," she said with a shrug, "Not letting me get obliterated."

"Yeah, well, the sooner we're done with this, the better," Axel said.

_And then you won't be stuck with me any more?_ She added silently. She didn't say anything aloud though for a long moment. Again she risked speaking on something that she tried to before.

"Can I ask you something?"

He glanced over at her, remembering what she'd brought up the last time she'd asked a question. "Sure," he said with a sigh.

"I was just wondering-hypothetically-if it's possible for Nobodies to like someone?" she asked slowly.

He considered this-giving it more thought than her previous questions at least. "In what sense?"

Xadnae shrugged, looking down at her hands.

"Oooh, is _that_ why you've been asking?" he said, "You think you like someone?"

She didn't move, gave no response. Was he piecing it together? What would he do? If only she knew that he thought she meant a certain blonde water elemental.

"Don't trouble yourself over it; no hearts, no emotions, nothing for you to feel. The mind lies," Axel said.

She laced her fingers together, looking down at the water. "Is that all it is?" she asked hollowly.

"That's all," he said with a nod, "Got it memorized?"

How many times had he said that by now? She couldn't remember, but her response was the same as always, "Yeah, sure."

"Good. Don't ask again," the redhead said.

She nodded mutely-maybe he was right after all.


	7. Drinking Games

**A/N:** This is one of my favorite chapters so far x3 I found Xigbar so easy to write. Anyway, here ya go~

* * *

**Chapter Seven – "Drinking Games"**

They'd finished up in Port Royal without further incident, and had actually managed to spend the time it took to compile the reports-together, in the same room of the Castle That Never Was-without getting into a fight, insulting each other, or exchanging any overly cruel comments. In fact, the atmosphere surrounding them had grown light with the anticipation of being freed from the chains of working together. Both of them were looking forward to it for vastly different reasons though, but they were things they'd never shared aloud.

For the most part, they appeared to have learned to get along. At least, they had no more urges to beat each other senseless, and they treated each other tolerably-which was enough for Xemnas they were grateful to discover when they handed in their reports. He still wasn't very pleased with them though, Xadnae noticed-especially when he took a moment to reprimand the both of them.

Soon after that though, they were free, but this sudden freedom left her feeling unsure, and the green-haired Nobody lingered in the hallway, looking away from the empty white expanse to the opposite direction, where Axel was still walking. This was when they were supposed to go their separate ways, return to whatever they did in her spare time when they weren't assigned to tasks, and yet…she felt she had to try, just once more. Then she would retreat back to her seclusion.

She didn't bother to waste time trying to catch up on foot, instead utilizing her powers of darkness, and teleported to a point shortly in front of him. "Axel," she said as soon as she emerged.

He stopped, sighing at the sight of her. "What is it now?"

"I just want to say something," Xadnae said, "No questions, just a statement."

"Well, hurry it up," he said impatiently.

"I…" all at once she was unsure, in her mind remembering the previous two times she'd tried, and how coldly he'd reacted. She also thought that she wasn't even sure if this…whatever it was, was justified, given everything that had happened over this short amount of time. "I…" she started again.

"Forget it," he said, "Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've had any sleep? Stuck working on that damned job with you? Tell me some other time, when you've found your voice again."

With that, he brushed past her, leaving her standing there blinking. She turned to gaze after him, the thoughts stabbing through her mind the words she wished she was able to say right now. _Stop…don't go…. You're so stupid! Whatever you're thinking, it's you…it's you…I think, I don't know, I'm so unsure. Someone tell me what this means…_

Instead though, she used anger to mask all of this, leaving no cracks in her façade that he would be able to see her weakness through. "Axel…" she called after him emotionlessly, and he paused, looking back at her over his shoulder, "You're an asshole."

Then she was gone in a flurry of darkness, leaving him to wonder just what it was that he'd said or done this time that she hadn't liked.

* * *

She had been wandering for some time now, jumping from one world to another as they all continued to fail in suiting what she needed-or thought she needed-right now. That is, until she wandered into this bar, pausing uncertainly just inside the doorway. Her hood was up, obscuring her identity, and a few people gave her curious looks, though for the most part ignored her arrival. Unsure, she looked around, her gaze drawn to one figure sitting at the bar-that was an Organization coat, she recognized it from this distance by the silver chain across the front.

Feeling slightly less out of place, she made her way over to him, trying and failing the whole way to remember his name. She knew she'd seen him before in the Castle-black hair, scar, eye patch-but his name…that escaped her. She didn't trouble herself too much over it though-it was as simple as asking after all.

"Hope you don't mind some company," she said quietly, lowering herself onto the stool next to him. Reaching up, she pushed her hood back, finding no reason to keep her face hidden.

Unexpectedly, he actually seemed glad to see he-or at least not that her arrival was unwanted. "Heey, Xadnae; what's up?"

"Ugh, a whole bunch of shit," she muttered, briefly rubbing her still aching temples, "And I'm sorry, I don't remember your name."

"Ah, don't feel bad, we've never met before anyway-it's Xigbar," he said.

She nodded-yes, now she remembered; Xigbar, the Freeshooter. She looked up as the bartender came over, blinking blankly when he asked what she wanted. What she wanted…? She had absolutely no idea, she'd never been in a bar before, and so of course had never drank either. She wasn't even old enough to drink, and was momentarily curious as to why the bartender didn't ask her for ID or something-not that she had any, of course, since she was technically a non-entity, being a Nobody. Luckily though, Xigbar interceded, saving her from her dilemma.

"Just give this one a beer, nothing more," he said, and the bartender nodded.

She remained silent as her drink was set on the counter in front of her, just eyeing it up for the moment.

"It's nice to have another woman in the Organization. One who's not sadistic like Larxene," he said.

"Is she?" Xadnae said, "I haven't met her yet."

"Consider yourself lucky. Now," the Freeshooter said, "What's on your mind, pretty lady?"

She half smiled, the action making her feel a little better. She found that his laid-back attitude put her at ease, "Well…" she said, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, "There's this guy…"

She picked up her beer, taking an experimental sip. It burned her throat when she swallowed, and she coughed and gasped, struggling to breath properly again.

"You okay there?" Xigbar asked, mildly alarmed.

"Yeah," she gasped, "I guess alcohol isn't the best thing for a raw throat."

"Probably not," he agreed, now mildly amused, "Now, what were you saying about a guy?"

"Well…" she started again, "I'm not sure…. I think I feel something, but…"

"Maybe you do," he said.

"What?" she looked over, her fingers tracing along the neck of her beer bottle.

"Yeah the mind is a complex thing, lots of things are possible," he said.

She looked back to the bar counter, risking another sip of her beer. It still burned, but it wasn't as bad as the first time, and she really couldn't comment on the taste-she had yet to see the attraction. "Really…? I wish he thought that way…"

"Someone in the Org?" Xigbar guessed.

She nodded mutely, not raising her gaze.

"Gonna tell me who?" he asked.

She shook her head this time, taking another sip and grimacing at both the burn and the taste.

"Fair enough," he allowed, "So what's the problem with this dude?"

The green-haired girl hesitated, unsure about sharing on this matter.

"C'mon, you can tell me," Xigbar said.

She sighed. "I don't get him," she stated, "I've tried talking to him about it, but he just won't listen." She drank more of her beer, and since she wasn't a drinker, she was already starting to feel the affects.

He nodded and 'mhmm'ed, allowing her to continue.

"I've tried three times to tell him, but he just doesn't get the hint, he acts so coldly," Xadnae said.

She paused to take another drink, the taste not so bad anymore, and shook her head.

"I'm starting to wonder why I'm trying at all," she sighed.

"Sounds like you really believe you feel somethin'," he said.

"I guess," she muttered.

Another sip of her drink, her mind growing fuzzier, making her more out-spoken.

"He's such an asshole sometimes," she continued suddenly, her voice slightly slurred now, "That infuriating smirk, and that stupid hair, and-"

From the way she'd started to carry on now, he had a feeling this was going to be a long night.


	8. Pain

**A/N:** No new reviews? T.T Anyway, there's actually a bit of symbolism in this chapter, in some vague form, that I felt I need to point out or else a few things will seem kinda random xD Their brief fight near the middle of the chapter is also a mental battle for him, during which he reaches a decision, which will be obvious what it is x3

* * *

**Chapter Eight – "Pain"**

It was hours-or she thought it was hours-later when she finally left the bar, bidding farewell to Xigbar, who had patiently put up with all her ranting-no matter how many times she repeated herself as she'd become horribly drunk. She had skillfully managed to avoid saying the name of the one who had brought her to this level, but she ended up not making it hard to guess who she meant. She'd managed to act surprisingly sober just as she was leaving, making the older Nobody believe that she'd manage to get to whatever location she'd said she was going to-it was only a simple teleport away for them after all.

However, Xadnae was far from being sober enough to make it to any intended place. She didn't reach the Castle, or Halloween Town, but ended up wandering drunkenly around The World That Never Was, making a spectacle of herself-if anyone but Heartless were ever around to witness such a thing. The Heartless certainly didn't care, and weren't able to tell anyone anyway, so her foolishness was known to none. There was even an interesting moment when she passed out, and had the most vivid dream.

She dreamt that Axel ended up finding her-and looking none too pleased upon seeing her once again bloodshot eyes, and the way she was walking.

"You _are_ drunk," the redhead said scornfully.

"Like you care," Xadnae sneered, crossing her arms over her chest and trying her hardest to keep her balance.

"Look," he said, obviously irritated and not in the mood for this, "I got woken up out of a sound sleep by Xigbar, for him to tell me that you're wandering around drunk somewhere-and it's my fault-but he refused to tell me why, saying I should ask you myself."

"You don' deserve to know," the younger Nobody grumbled, her words surprisingly clear for her being so drunk.

She started to turn away, signaling that she was done talking to him, and ignored the fire that ignited in his vibrant eyes. He reached out a hand to her shoulder, intending to stop her, and she suddenly whirled about. She threw a punch that he hadn't expected, and her fist connected solidly, the blow landing just below his right eye, splitting the skin and sure to blossom into a nice bruise later. The force of it rocked him back a step-she was strong, even drunk-and at that moment, how he managed to resist burning her, he would never know.

It was quite an interesting dream-at least, that's what she thought now.

* * *

Something interrupted her peaceful sleep-a firm nudge at her ribs. She groaned, moving a hand to try and wave away whatever it was, but she hit only air. Satisfied that the intrusion was gone, she tucked her arm against her chest again and proceeded to attempt to return to sleep. However, she had no such luck, as she was nudged again-harder this time.

"Go away," she muttered, pulling her hood tighter around her face to block out whatever light was intruding.

"You need to get up now," a voice said, distinctively male.

Sounded familiar…like…oh, she couldn't remember right now-some time in Halloween Town was all she could think of. Blindly she raised one finger in the classic gesture, and then proceeded to curl up tighter. "Fuck off," she mumbled sleepily.

"Xadnae!" another voice shouted, and she flinched at the sound as it pierced through her currently over-sensitive ears.

All of a sudden she was doused with water, unaffected by most of it due to her coat, but a good deal of it managed to find her face under the hood, making her cough and sputter. Sitting up so that she wouldn't drown, she pushed her hood up enough to see.

"What's the big idea?" she demanded.

She blinked up to see Demyx gazing down at her disapprovingly while whoever she'd cursed vanished into wisps of blackness, seeming to feel they weren't needed here any more. The blonde actually looked upset, with one hand on his hip, supporting his sitar with the other, though she found it hard to think of the water elemental as intimidating-which he wasn't, despite that he was obviously trying.

Leaning back against the wall behind her, she finally took note of her surroundings; she was in The World That Never Was, near the bridge to the Castle. "My head," she groaned, resting her forehead against her palms and closing her eyes. The throbbing behind her temples was enough to rival when she'd been sick before, and it was not at all welcome.

"Are you…alright?" he asked with a sigh after a lengthy silence.

"Besides the splitting headache, and the fact that everything's too bright and loud, yeah, I'm fine," Xadnae replied, drawing her knees up to her chest.

"You're lucky that's all you have to complain about," Demyx said.

"Why?" she asked, looking back up at the blonde.

He quirked an eyebrow. "You don't remember?"

"What did I do?" she asked with a sigh.

He appeared uncomfortable at the question. "Well…Xaldin said you should find out by yourself," he said, "Just try not to get into another fight with Axel."

She started to ask why she would fight again with Axel, but he was already vanishing into a corridor of darkness, and she sighed once more. She supposed this was all part of some 'learning process', finding out on her own, working things out without help. She still didn't like being left in the dark-so to speak; she'd rather know why there would be conflict, what she had done since the last thing she remembered-being in the bar with Xigbar. Climbing to her feet, she opened a corridor of her own and made her way to Halloween Town. Emerging on Curly Hill, she stretched before sprawling out on the top of the hill, resting her head on her arms, and ended up falling asleep again.

* * *

Jerking awake violently from a nightmare, she leaned too far to one side and ended up rolling down the side of the hill, her head throbbing and stomach lurching from the motions, though managed not to be sick. Pushing herself up on her elbows, she groaned slightly, the world spinning a little as she blinked. Her gaze flickered to the side, and suddenly she noticed a pair of boots. Eyes widening slightly, she shifted to look up, finding Axel gazing down at her with crossed arms. Quickly and somewhat awkwardly, she got to her feet, backing up a few steps.

"Axel-" she started, but then frowned, "-What happened to your face?" she asked instead upon seeing the ugly bruise.

"You did," the redhead said flatly, "Last night, you punched me."

So that hadn't been a dream… "Oh…I…sorry…" she said quietly, turning away a little.

He waved a hand, either saying it was fine, or that he could care less about her apology. "Xigbar told me what you said."

Xadnae froze, her gaze fixing on some random point off in the distance as she was afraid to look at him.

"It was all about me. Those questions you asked, and what you wanted to tell me," he said.

His tone was unreadable, she had no idea how he was reacting to this, what he was going to do, and she was still afraid to look at him.

"You're wrong. You think you feel something, but you don't, you can't," the redhead said.

There was no malice, no anger in his voice, and that served to confuse her, but also gave her the nerve to finally turn back and look at him. "_You're_ wrong," she said quietly, "I…I know…what I feel."

"You don't," he said, shaking his head, "Your mind is lying to you."

"No!" she said fiercely, "How can you be so opposed to the idea?"

"Because we _can't feel_ anything!" he said, his voice rising.

"That's not true," she said, "I feel…I like you a lot. Maybe it's even…"

"Don't say it," Axel said somewhat bitterly.

"Why not?" she demanded. She was starting to get angry now-was it really anger? Or did she just _think_ it was?-and her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

"Because it's impossible," he said, and he sounded like he was becoming irritated himself.

"But _why_?" she challenged, stepping closer.

"You know why," he snapped.

"_You're_ impossible! You won't even consider the idea," Xadnae said. She was so upset; she just wanted to hit him, just wanted to-

She threw a punch, but he had been expecting it, had read her body language-her stance, her clenched fists-and caught her wrist before she could succeed. Not giving up though, she threw her weight against him, knocking him off balance on the slope of the hill, and as they started to fall, she opened a corridor of darkness around them. When they hit the ground, it was the snow of Christmas Town, and quickly she rolled to the side, springing to her feet. He seemed reluctant to fight her, actually, but she quickly changed his mind when she landed a hard kick to his shoulder.

If he couldn't understand, couldn't accept the idea or even consider it, then…she was going to _make_ him. She didn't even need her spear for this-she didn't want to inflict _that_ much damage.

She reeled backward from a punch that caught her in the chin, splitting her lower lip, and thought briefly of a snide comment that she could have made-but simply didn't have the heart to, so to speak. Recovering quickly, she lashed out with a kick that landed on his side, moving to follow up with a punch of her own, but he grabbed her wrist, twisting her arm around and attempting to immobilize her. Swiftly, she brought her heel back to connect with his shin, swinging her other fist up and behind where she judged his face to be. She felt as well as heard the blow land, and wrenched free from his weakened grip.

Whirling about, she threw another punch that missed when he evaded. He, however, managed to get in another blow to her face that knocked her off balance, followed by a kick to her stomach that sent her sprawling flat on the snow. She started to get up, but in a flash he was atop her, pushing her back down, and reached for her hands when she moved to hit him again.

"Stop!" the redhead growled, pinning her hands down as she fought to free herself, his fingers around her wrists tight enough to hurt.

Xadnae continued to struggle for a moment more though, furious that she had been beaten-again-by him. She was strong, forcing him to hold tighter, but it was a strength that was quickly diminishing due to the pounding in her head, not having been helped by the two punches she'd taken. At last she fell still, actually worried that she was going to end up crying. She didn't know why, but something inside of her felt broken-what could explain this, when they weren't supposed to feel at all?

"I hate you," she whispered bitterly, closing her eyes tightly, "You'll never understand, will you?"

"Do you still believe what you said before?" Axel demanded, "That you…"

"…Yes," she said, all life gone from her voice. "I believe what I _feel_."

He sighed at her choice of words, loosening his grip on her wrists. "You're sure?"

"Yes." What was he getting at?

He released her wrists all together, brushing her bangs back from her face with one hand to tangle his fingers in her hair. "Look at me."

Unable to _not_ obey, she opened her eyes, but could not bring herself to gaze upon his bruised face, instead focusing dully on his chest.

"_Look at me_," he repeated, his fingers tightening in her hair.

Wincing slightly, she forced herself to raise her gaze, and when she met his burning aqua-green eyes, she was trapped, unable to look away.

"You know this wouldn't end well," the pyro said quietly.

"What are you saying?" Xadnae asked, afraid to read too deeply into his words.

"I don't know, exactly," he admitted, "You make me feel…like I _can_ feel again-usually not in a good way," he added with a slight smirk, "But there have been times…"

"Axel," she said through gritted teeth, "If you're going to say it, just fucking say it."

He chuckled softly, and she swallowed hard at the sound. "To use your words; I think I like you. A little."

She growled, "Don't be an ass-" she started.

Before she could finish, he'd cut her off by kissing her hard. That sole action froze her completely, wiped every thought from her mind, and her eyes widened.

"_Ow…_" she whispered breathlessly when he drew back, her split lip stinging painfully.

"Sorry," he murmured with another smirk, though he didn't sound sincere at all, and there was no trace of apology reflected in his eyes.

He kissed her again, this time much more gentle, tender even, and her eyes fell shut as she tentatively kissed him back. His grip tightened on her hair though, tugging sharply on the roots, as if he were ensuring she wasn't going anywhere, and she winced. She raised a hand to cover his, forcing her fingers between his own, and managed to free her hair from his grasp as he instead held tightly to her hand. She felt a single hot tear slide down the side of her face, leaving a track that was soon chilled by the winter air.

"Was that better?" Axel asked quietly.

"_Besides_ nearly ripping my hair out," she said, trying but apparently failing to sound cross.

"You're so _fragile_," he said lightly, rolling his eyes.

"I am not!" she growled, though again she was too worried to make it sound sincere. "And I would appreciate it if you'd _get off_."

"Maybe I don't _feel_ like it," he said, not moving.

"You're mocking me," Xadnae grumbled, punching him lightly in the stomach.

"No, I'm not," he said, but he moved anyway just in case she decided to hit him again.

Finally able to get to her feet again, the younger Nobody shook the snow from her coat and hair before crossing her arms and turning away from him. She was silent for a long moment, and surprisingly, he didn't disturb her. She looked back slightly over her shoulder. "Just a little?" she asked.

"More than that," the redhead said, moving up behind her and resting his chin on the top of her head. "You're so short," he added, as if he hadn't noticed that before.

"_Axel_," she said threateningly, but secretly she was happy-as happy as a Nobody could be, at least. _More than that…._ The words kept echoing through her mind, like they were on repeat. Did that really mean? Did he…?


	9. Attempted Assassination

**Chapter Nine – "Attempted Assassination"**

After stopping in Halloween Town to clean up the bruises and cuts on her face, Xadnae decided to go find Demyx-to assure him that everything was alright, despite the fact that she _had_ gotten into another fight with Axel. Hopefully it would be their last. The red-haired pyro had already returned to the Castle That Never Was, and she was sure that some tales of what had happened were getting around already-it wasn't exactly inconspicuous with the fresh bruises he would be sporting by now.

When she herself made it to the Castle, it didn't take long for her to find the blonde. He seemed to find her, in fact, as when she was rounding a bend she walked right into him. He yelped in surprise, quickly trying to act like she hadn't startled him when he realized who it was. She could see his gaze flicker to the bruises on her face, and he put his hands on his hips.

"You fought with him again," Demyx said in a scolding tone, as though she was a small child.

"Yeah. I'll admit that it was my fault," she said willingly, "He acted in self defense."

The blonde raised a brow. "_You_ attacked _him_? After what happened the first time?"

"It was nothing serious," she tried to assure him, "It didn't even last long."

He sighed, shaking his head. "This can't continue, Xad," he said, shortening her name to a nickname.

"It won't," she said, "Things'll be better now."

"Oh?" the blonde questioned skeptically.

She nodded, "I don't believe there'll be any more conflict between us."

"You're sure?" Demyx asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"Well…alright. But I'm holding you to your word-no more chances."

"Of course," she said, nodding again. "You know…sounding so responsible is out of character for you."

"I _am_ responsible," he said, and this time she was more inclined to believe him.

* * *

The green haired Nobody stood just inside the doorway to her room in the Castle, her hands on her hips as she surveyed how…white everything was. White ceiling, white walls, white floor, white bed frame, white dresser, white closet. It was too much-then again; she hadn't personalized anything besides the bed. She'd brought over a spare set of sheets and such from Halloween Town, and so the bed stood out greatly, adorned in black and deep purple like it was. Of course, the bed was also utterly un-slept in because she could stand to stay here for too long-all this white hurt her eyes.

She'd have to do something about this-and soon, or else this room would be entirely unlivable. For now though, she was tired, and if she buried her head under the pillow, she could ignore the white and hope to bounce back from her hangover soon.

Kicking off her boots and leaving them wherever they landed, she unzipped her coat, shrugging out of it and dropped it on the floor as well. Flopping onto the bed, she pulled the pillow over her head, closing her eyes. Just as she was starting to fall asleep, she heard the door open, followed by footsteps that seemed to stop at the foot of her bed. Thinking it to be Axel, she mumbled unintelligibly, freeing on hand to wave briefly in a 'go away' gesture. In response, the footsteps circled around to the side before stopping again. Irritated now, she lifted her head from under the pillow, though kept her eyes closed.

"Go away," she mumbled tiredly.

When there was no reply, she forced her eyes open, and what she saw momentarily wiped every coherent thought from her mind. A tall, lean, shadowy black form stood at the side of the bed, silent and still. She blinked. Blinked again. Tried to process what she was seeing. A Heartless-a humanoid Heartless, that somehow seemed…familiar to her.

Her breath short, she sat up, trying to quickly figure out what to do. Before she could decide, the Heartless grabbed her by the neck, lifting her effortlessly into the air, and flung her across the room. She crashed into the dresser, shattering the mirror above it which rained shards down around her, before rolling off onto the floor. Though disorientated, she quickly got to her feet, calling up her ice spear into her hands.

Shaking glass from her hair, she braced herself as the Heartless came after her. She thrust her spear forward, but the shadowy creature twisted to the side, backhanding her across the face. Reeling from the blow, she fell into a corridor of darkness that the Heartless had opened. The other side came out in midair, sending her tumbling down on her back onto a table, scattering a pile of books.

They were in the library now, and when she glanced over, she saw a teenage boy blinking at her in surprise over the top edge of the book he'd been reading. Quickly though, she looked back up to the open portal, rolling out of the way just before the Heartless plunged through. It stabbed down with its left hand-which wasn't really a hand anymore, but a sharp, slender blade, and there was a crack as it split through the wood of the table.

This wasn't right, something didn't add up-it was supposed to be the more monstrous a Heartless, the stronger it was, not the other way around.

Vaulting to her feet, she parried a blow from its sword hand, blocking yet another with her spear shaft. Her shadowy foe was completely uninterested in the young Organization member who still sat at the table, instead keeping all its attention focused on her. She tried to push it back, to overpower it, but as strong as she was, it was stronger, shoving her into a large shelf, sending books tumbling to the floor. Xadnae aimed a line of quickly formed icicles at the Heartless, but the creature ducked under them as it charged at her, causing the boy to dive for cover with an indignant comment.

She didn't hear exactly what he said, as she was concentrating on not being impaled by her opponent's blade. Pivoting out of the way, she swung her spear around, only for the Heartless to block with its sword-arm, and, in a very human move, drive an elbow into her back. Stumbling a step from the blow, she quickly regained her footing and spun, deflecting a kick with the shaft of her spear. In the next moment though, it literally threw itself at her, forcing her back into yet another corridor that it opened.

They fell through into an empty hallway now as she braced her spear shaft with both hands to hold the Heartless back. Wrenching to the side, she threw her foe off, springing up quickly to launch a line of icicles. The Heartless moved to dodge them, the majority crashing harmlessly against the opposite wall, but two sliced through its arm. There was no blood, just a wisp of shadows, though it seemed to hurt none-the-less. Soundlessly it charged at her, aiming to stab through her shoulder, and she pivoted out of the way, thrusting her spear into the Heartless's side. This time it uttered a growl of pain, pulling free and whirling about to punch her in the stomach.

It charged at her again with a lowered head, slamming its shoulder into her stomach and knocking her back into yet another corridor. As they fell, she tried to figure out why it would be after her-Heartless didn't usually attack them, Nobodies didn't have any hearts for them to be interested in, and Heartless were mindless, they didn't carry personal vendettas. Unless someone had ordered it to attack her-but who would do that? She hadn't gotten on anybody's bad side-besides Axel a lot, and if Xemnas had some sort of issue with her he'd speak to her directly.

It didn't make sense.

As they emerged again, into another empty hallway, it swung its sword hand down at her, and she raised her spear to block, holding it off with both hands. She had a split second to catch a glimpse of flaming red hair in the hall before the Heartless latched its still human hand around her neck, squeezing with surprising strength. Nobodies may have no hearts, but they still needed to breathe, and she struggled to do so as they passed into another void of darkness.

All at once her back hit solid ground-they were in what appeared to be a large, empty room, and she was glad they had stopped falling-she'd never seen such a rapid string of corridors like that before. She had little time to be thankful though, as her foe was still choking her. Gritting her teeth, she braced the shaft of her spear with just one hand, freeing her other to wrap around the Heartless's wrist to wrench it free.

Sucking in deep breaths of air, she drew back her fist and punched the shadow square in the face. The blow sent the Heartless sprawling backwards, allowing her enough time to vault to her feet. This was it, she was tired of playing nice with this thing-she was going to end this here and now before it got out of hand again. She slammed the tip of her spear against the floor, sending waves of large, jagged icicles erupting from the white stone to race towards the Heartless. Xadnae saw quite clearly that a good number of these hit the shadow in some way, and yet it was still fast enough to avoid many of them, dodging this way and that to dash towards her.

With a growl of annoyance, the green haired Nobody formed a line of ice spears in midair, mentally hurling them towards the Heartless. Her foe dropped to the ground, rolling under them, and sprang up again, still making a bee line towards her. Swinging her actual spear around, she gripped the shaft with both hands near one tip and swung the other towards the shadow. It dodged to the side, trailing wisps behind it from its wounds, and all at once there was a searing pain in her stomach.

Blinking in confusion she looked to the Heartless, still holding her spear poised from the swing, and then looked down to see the blade-hand of the shadow pierced through her corset, buried into her flesh. She looked back up to the Heartless, and all at once she recognized something about its shadowy dark face, her eyes widening. It pulled the blade back, intending to stab her again, but suddenly whirled about to barely deflect a flaming chakram that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. Soundlessly, the shadow retreated into a corridor, leaving its 'mission' as it seemed, unfinished.

Dropping her ice spear to her side, her grip on it loose, she moved her other hand to the bleeding wound on her stomach. Red, it was so red-she'd never seen so much of her own blood before. Whenever she'd gotten into fights, it was usually bruises she ended up with-or sometimes nothing at all. It hurt too, it was like fire-and she did, indeed, know what fire felt like-and it was almost as bad as when…. Her legs gave out then, and she crumpled almost gracefully to the ground, as if she meant to fall, catching a glimpse of Axel coming towards her before everything faded out.


	10. Family

**Chapter Ten – "Family"**

She stirred with a soft groan, and then awoke all at once upon remembering what had happened. She sat up quickly, one hand going to her stomach where the wound had been. It was completely gone-healed, and her fingers only found the slit in her corset where the blade had pierced through. As she looked up, her violet eyes landed on Demyx, who didn't appear very happy, and she started to say something, but he spoke first.

"Come on," he said, tossing her coat and gloves to her, "We have a job to do."

"What? Right now?" Xadnae said, catching them easily. She'd just been attacked by a Heartless, nearly killed by it, Axel had saved her life, and on top of it all, it was…

"Yes, right now," the blonde said, "Xemnas's orders," he held out a note card to her-classic Demyx, as always.

She took the card, reading it as she shrugged into her coat and gloves, and then read it again to be sure that she had understood properly. They were to get rid of the Heartless that had attacked her, and they were not to return until they had succeeded.

"Just the two of us?" she said in slight confusion, looking up.

"Don't you get it, Xadnae? It means we're nonessential," he said, calling up a corridor of darkness around the both of them.

"Nonessential?" she repeated once they'd emerged from the corridor into The World That Never Was, processing this information, "I'd like to show _him_ who's nonessential." She added darkly, her hands clenching into fists.

This was all because of her poor conduct up until now, wasn't it? The way she'd kept quarreling with Axel, and had been unable to finish her simple assignment without his help _due_ to this fighting. She wouldn't have any screw ups with this though, she'd be sure of it.

"Don't talk like that, unless you want an excuse to be branded a traitor and hunted down," Demyx said in a scolding tone.

She immediately lowered her gaze to the ground, knowing he was right despite the fact that she found all of this unfair. _Branded a traitor and hunted down_…. _That's right_…that would be Axel's job.

"Let's just deal with our current problem," she sighed, pulling her hood up over her head as it started to rain.

The blonde nodded, eagerly pouncing on this change of subject. "Any idea why this Heartless attacked you?" he asked.

Looking around, she hesitated, unsure if she wanted to answer him or not. "It's…it's complicated," she said instead, starting to walk slowly, her head bowed against the light rain.

"Come on, you can tell me," he prodded gently, falling into step beside her.

"Well…it's…" she looked up, catching sight of a shadowy form in the darkness some distance ahead of them, "It's here," she concluded.

"That's _it_?" he commented, stopping as well, "It doesn't look like much."

Usually she would have some snide remark to that, considering that this Heartless had dragged her through nearly half the Castle and had almost succeeded in killing her, but instead she just shook her head, calling her spear into her hands. "Just be careful," she said quietly.

The Heartless took a few steps towards them, and she tensed, dropping into a battle stance, holding her spear firmly in both hands. It stopped then, seeming to regard each of them in turn, and she willed it to just attack so that she could get this over with, so that she wouldn't have to think about it, wouldn't have to…. That was when the shadowy form raised its still human hand, curling all of its fingers against its palm except for one until it was pointing directly at her.

His sitar in his hands now, Demyx hesitated, looking over at her with a confused frown. "Xadnae?"

She didn't seem to hear him though, her full attention on the Heartless. "What do you want from me?" she demanded in a voice so quiet it was nearly a whisper.

Again the creature pointed to her, the expression-if it had one at all-on its black face unreadable.

"What? Why are you doing this?" she burst, much louder than before, and took a step forward, "I died trying to protect you Mika, what more do you want from me?"

If Demyx had thought he was confused before, that was nothing compared to now. "Xadnae…could there perhaps be something you haven't told me?"

Tearing her gaze from the Heartless, she looked over to the blonde. "…It's my brother," she said, "That's why I became a Nobody. On Christmas, the Heartless attacked, I was there to spend the holiday with him, I tried to protect him, but…"

Before she'd even finished talking, the Heartless was charging at her, moving much faster than she anticipated, and she turned. She barely had time to raise her spear to block a slash from its sword hand, and stepped back quickly to avoid a kick. Now that she knew who it was, she found that it was hard for her to actually fight back. All she could do was keep blocking and avoiding attacks, seeing many openings for blows of her own, but letting each one slide by. She knew she had to though, there was no other choice.

Jumping back a few feet, she slammed the tip of her spear into the ground, the point cracking through the pavement and embedding. Immediately following, a wall of ice erupted, spearing towards the Heartless. To the surprise of both of the Nobodies, the shadowy creature vaulted over the ice, landing a downward kick to Xadnae's shoulder, sending her sprawling backwards to the ground. Her hood fell back as she looked up, starting to form a line of icicles as the Heartless leaped at her again, stabbing down with its sword arm.

Just before it reached her though, a sudden jet of water crashed into it, knocking it backwards through the air. The shadowy being landed on her spear, ending up impaled, and it thrashed about until her icicles collided with it as well. Throwing its mouth open in a silent scream, the Heartless exploded into darkness, fading out swiftly. For a moment longer, Xadnae continue to lay there, propped up on her elbows, her gaze fixed on the point where the creature had been. Her hands clenched into fists, and her spear shattered out of existence.

Finally climbing to her feet, she pulled her hood back up over her now rain soaked hair, and turned to Demyx, her head bowed, "…Thanks," she said quietly.

"Xad," he said as she started to walk away, and she stopped, inclining her head towards him slightly. "I'm sorry about your brother."

She nodded a bit, murmuring a nearly inaudible 'yeah' before opening a corridor of darkness to take her back to the Castle. When she arrived there, she had only one goal; to find Axel. When she did, she snuck up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist, and buried her face against the back of his shoulder. He flinched in surprise at the unexpected hug, and started to turn, but she held on tighter, not allowing him to.

She closed her eyes tightly, trying to fight back the unbidden sadness that had washed over her since she'd figured out who the Heartless had been. She tried to tell herself that she wasn't really feeling this emotion, that it was just a memory of it, but it felt real enough to her, and it hurt. At last, she freed her hold on him, dropping her arms back to her sides, and bowed her head. He turned to face her, pulling back her hood, and slipped his fingers under her chin, tilting her head up. For a moment, she averted her gaze, but then she looked to his vibrant aqua-green eyes.

"You're not…crying?" he said, sounding surprised.

She was silent a moment, debating whether or not she really wanted to tell him. "That Heartless was my brother," she whispered, looking away again, "I died trying to protect him. I guess he blamed me for failing…"

Axel didn't say a word, just pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her.

She made no move to return the embrace, but she was grateful for it, for him. She laid her head against his chest, silent tears streaking down her face, and closed her eyes. By instinct, she expected to hear the gentle rhythm of his heartbeat, but of course there was silence. No, not complete silence-there was something, faint, but she couldn't understand what it was, didn't know what she was hearing.

"Axel," she started softly, her voice thick with tears, "I-"

"Shhh," the pyro murmured, and she fell silent, "Come on, you should rest."

He opened a corridor of darkness around them, and when they emerged, she assumed they were in his room. At this moment, with her mind clouded by memories of emotions, she wasn't quite sure if it was what she expected; clothes and CDs were strewn across the floor, there was a laptop and iPod in the corner, and some other things that she couldn't classify at the moment.

He sat her down on the bed, kicking off his boots before pulling off her own. Any other time, he would have teased her about the way she was so quiet and complacent, but the pain in her eyes silenced that. Besides, he realized that he was…starting to really care about her. Pulling the comforter around her shoulders, the redhead wrapped his arms around her, lying down with her.

Her hands clenched in the front of his coat as she closed her eyes, still crying soundlessly. Crying…she would have never exposed a weakness like this to anyone ever, but this felt…okay. She didn't feel threatened by his presence, or that she had to hide this from him, and she supposed that was part of why…. She drew closer to him, resting her forehead against his chest, and let herself sink into the darkness that was sleep.


	11. Music

**A/N:** There will be an epilogue after this.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven – "Music"**

So warm and cozy, she didn't want to move and risk waking more, she wanted to slip back into sleep. She heard a soft murmur as arms tightened around her waist, and for a moment she'd forgotten the events of the previous evening. Upon remembering that she'd fallen asleep with Axel, she smiled slightly. Ever so carefully, she raised her head, gazing upon his sleeping face. He looked so peaceful, so sweet, maybe she'd even go as far as to say angelic-totally contrary to his usual attitude.

Tilting her head, she placed a soft kiss to his lips. He stirred slightly, but didn't awaken, so she kissed him again. This time, she saw him smile ever so slightly-a dead give away that he was awake. He had such a nice smile; she wished he'd show it more.

"Morning," Xadnae said softly, letting him know that she saw through his ruse.

Giving an over-exaggerated yawn, he opened his eyes at last. "Good morning," the redhead said, his voice low and sultry.

"How is it that every other time recently I've tried to get some sleep, it's been interrupted, and yet here, nothing?" she asked, stretching as much as she could without dislodging herself from his arms.

"Because everyone knows I'm not a morning person," Axel responded with a slight smirk.

"Ah," she said, looking away for a moment as something else crossed her mind, "…Thank you," she added in a murmur.

He blushed faintly, "You don't have-"

She placed a finger against his lips, "I meant for saving my life," she interrupted gently.

"Oh, well of course. I wasn't going to just let you die," he said.

"I appreciate it," Xadnae said, "That's like, what, three times you've saved my life now?"

"You're accident prone," he said, rolling his eyes playfully.

"Guess I'm lucky I have you around then," she said, a small smile tugging on her lips.

He didn't say anything, just averted his gaze, and she noted that he was blushing again, however faintly.

She pulled away enough to sit up, pulling off one of her gloves as she did. There was something she'd been wondering about for a long while, and now was the perfect opportunity to find out. She reached out a hand, running her fingers through his fiery locks.

"Your hair's so soft!" she said in surprise.

"What were you expecting?" Axel asked, seeming mildly amused.

"Deadly spikes," she replied honestly, running her hand through his hair again, "There is no possible way that your hair naturally defies gravity like this."

"I have my ways," he said secretively, "Why, you planning on spiking that messy hair of yours?"

"Not a chance," Xadnae said, "I was just curious."

"You should cut these though," he said, catching her bangs and tugging on them lightly.

Pulling her head back, she batted his hand away, smoothing her bangs back into place.

"I'd like to see all of your face at once," he continued, "You're not bad looking."

She froze, just blinking at him for a long second. He…was saying…she was pretty…right? Blushing scarlet, she turned away, fully untangling herself from his arms and the comforter. Pulling off her other glove, she tossed them both onto the bed and stood, clearing her throat. She was glad-so glad-that he was beginning to show more of how he felt, but at the same time it flustered her. The reason was very simple; the only person she'd ever really cared about before had been her brother, and that was a family bond.

"Let's see, what do we have here?" she said, walking over and stooping to pick up one of the CDs on the floor.

"Mmm, this is good," she said, nodding, "I have this one."

Before he could question though, she'd already set the CD down and was moving on to another. All at once she did something very uncharacteristic-she squealed.

"You have-I've been trying to find this for ages!" she said, snatching up the CD case.

"Which one?" the redhead asked, sitting up.

Half turning, she raised the CD in question for him to see. "I'm borrowing this," she declared.

"That's my favorite, no you're not," he said.

"I'm not going to do anything for it," she said, checking to make sure the CD was actually in the case.

"Put it down," Axel said, standing.

She turned to face him, holding the CD behind her back. "Is that an order?" she said teasingly.

"Xigbar already borrows my music, I don't need you doing the same," he replied.

"I'll make sure you get it back," Xadnae said, taking a few steps away when he started towards her.

He paused, eyeing her. "You'd better," he said at last.

"I will," she said, turning away as she looked back to the CD, "Eventually."

She made a soft sound of surprise when he caught her around the waist, the CD slipping from her hands. He spun her around, setting her down on the edge of the bed, stooping to her level, and brushed her bangs back from her face. Tucking her hair behind her ear, he cupped her face in his gloved hands, and kissed her. She supposed, now, that he wasn't really upset over the whole borrowing-his-music bit, unless this was her punishment, and if it was, she'd have to borrow more of his things.

Hooking her hands at the back of his neck, she leaned backwards, pulling him with her, and mentally laughed when he tried, for a moment, to prevent himself from falling over on top of her. However, it was at that moment that a corridor of darkness suddenly opened in one of the upper corners of the room, and Xigbar appeared-upside down, on the ceiling, like he was prone to randomly popping up. Whatever he'd been about to say was totally forgotten when he saw the two of them, and Xadnae almost laughed out loud at his expression.

"Whoa! Never mind; didn't mean to interrupt," the Freeshooter said, and then he was gone again.

Xadnae looked back to Axel, a different thought on her mind now after that random interruption. She'd tried before to say this, and each time before he'd interrupted her. She was going to try again though.

"Axel," she started, all traces of playfulness gone from her voice, "I lo-"

He placed two fingers against her lips, silencing her, "Hush," the pyro said.

Anger and confusion flashed through her dark eyes, and she had the urge to bite those fingers, though instead all she did was bare her teeth in warning. "Why won't you let me say it?" she demanded quietly.

"I just want you to be sure," he replied, drawing his hand back just in case.

"Bullshit," she said, pushing him back so she could sit up, "You're afraid of something, why?"

"I'm not afraid of anything," he protested, sitting next to her on the bed.

"_Bullshit_," she said again, "What, are you afraid I'll break your non-existent heart?"

He looked away, not answering her, and she blinked in surprise.

"Tha-that's it?" she said, clearly not having expected this. "Hey," she added, much more softly, "I wouldn't do that."

He still didn't look at her, and she reached out a hand, laying her palm against his cheek to turn his head towards her. "If we had hearts, I wouldn't break yours," she said gently, "And even if we really don't, I have no intentions of doing anything like that."

He regarded her for a long moment, and if ever there was an expression to be classed as a 'puppy dog face', it was the expression he had now. She wondered just when it was that their roles had suddenly reversed-where she was the sure, headstrong one, and he was the one displaying a vulnerability. With a slight smile, she brushed her fingers through his flaming hair, an expression of unprecedented kindness in her eyes.

"Amazing," he said at last, "Underneath that ice queen exterior, you have a tender side."

She smiled slightly, tracing her fingertips lightly along his cheek, "Because I-" she cut herself off this time, considering her words, and then simply finished, "It's because."

"It's nice," Axel said, moving her bangs back from her face again.

Just to annoy him, she shook her hair back into place. "I'm going to prove you wrong," she said suddenly.

"About?"

"When you said this wouldn't end well," she clarified, "I'll prove you wrong."

Would she? There had been a reason he'd said that before; he had his doubts about this whole thing, even if he wanted to believe her. However, all he said was, "I'm sure you will."

What future was there for a relationship between Nobodies?


	12. Epilogue

**A/N:** Thank you for all the reviews and favorites -bows- I do plan other fics to follow this one in a mini-series, some of them in various stages of either planning or writing, but I'm not sure when I'll get to completing any of them yet, with other fics pushed to more importance at the moment.

* * *

**Epilogue**

Again she stood in her room with her arms crossed, surveying how white everything was. This was too much-something really had to be done-and now that she actually had the time, she knew just what she was going to do. She nodded her head approvingly as she thought out this idea-yes, black and dark purple, two of her favorite colors, as was shown by her stockings and bed sheets.

Pulling her hood up over her head to obscure her identity, Xadnae opened a corridor of darkness, emerging in the back of a shop in Hollow Bastion. She peered through the gaps of the shelves, making sure the shopkeeper hadn't noticed her arrival-she had no plans to pay for anything, after all, as she had no means to. Satisfied that her presence was unknown, she silently perused the items on the shelves in the back, eyes scanning over the large cans of paint.

As quietly as possible, she lifted one of the cans of black paint off the shelf, and continued to look for the second color she was after. She froze upon hearing someone else enter the shop, listening intently as they spoke with the shopkeeper and then moved through the aisles, making sure they weren't coming towards her. When she was sure they weren't, she continued her search, at last lifting a second can of paint from the shelf.

With her hands full now, she moved into another corridor, taking the paint to her room in the Castle. After that, it took her a couple more trips to get everything she needed, but finally she had all the supplies she'd need for painting in her room. Now of course she had no intentions of doing all of this by herself, and so began to think of who she could 'kidnap' to assist her. Pushing her hood back down, she freed her hair from under her coat and set about removing the sheets from her bed so that they wouldn't become accidental victims of paint, throwing them into the closet, and then did the same with her Org. coat.

Xadnae opened yet another corridor, traveling through the Castle until she found the redhead that she sought. Stopping in front of him, she put her hands on her hips, as if daring him to ignore her presence.

"Do you have something important to do?" she asked, her tone quite serious for someone who was only looking for help painting.

"Not particularly, why?" the pyro replied, immediately suspicious of her motives.

"Want to help me paint?" the green-haired Nobody inquired.

"Paint?" Axel repeated, raising a brow, "Not particularly."

"You know, you have absolutely gorgeous eyes," she said suddenly, still serious but with a persuasive edge now.

He laughed a bit, "Flattery won't work, small fry," he said.

"I'm serious," she protested.

"I still don't want to help you paint," he said.

"And you know," she continued as if he hadn't said anything, her voice dropping as she stepped towards him and traced one fingertip along his chin, "I don't _really_ think that your hair looks like a porcupine."

"I have no interest in painting anything," he said again, though she could tell his resolve was wavering.

She took another step closer, continuing to show how persistent she could be. "You really do have beautiful eyes," she said, not only being persuasive now but honest as well, "I would love another excuse to have time to gaze into them."

He reached back one hand to scratch at his fiery hair, blinking at her words. "Well, if you insist," he relented.

"Thanks," she said with a quick smile, tapping his nose, "I'll meet you in my room in a few."

Now she just had two others to find. She decided to save the easiest for last and headed to the library next. As she had expected, the blue haired teenager was perusing the shelves of books. Now…if only she could remember his name. Something that started with a 'z'. Just like with Xigbar though, she drew a blank. She really had to interact more with the other Organization members so that she could memorize their names.

"Hey, uh…kid-who's-name-I-don't-remember," she called.

He turned at the sound of her voice, brilliant blue eyes narrowing slightly in annoyance. "My name is Zexion," he said.

"Right, Zexion. Sorry, I'm having trouble with almost everyone's name it seems," she apologized, "So, uh, there was a task that I could use some assistance with."

The younger Nobody raised an eyebrow, "What task?"

"Painting…my room," she replied, "I can't stand all the white."

"Why would I be interested in such a task?" Zexion asked.

"Well…" she hesitated, "I have some really unique books you could borrow or even have if you help-" she always seemed to find him hanging around the library, so that meant something, right? "-And I love the hair, by the way." Shameless flattery, but it was true; his hair was like hers after all, veiling the side of his face.

"Bribery _and_ flattery," he said, "Hmm…I suppose I could spare some time to help."

"Really? Thanks," Xadnae said.

Two down, one to go. This would by far be the easiest. She found the Melodious Nocturne lounging on one of the couches in the living room of sorts. He had his sitar balanced in front of him and seemed to be working on a song, though looked up when she entered the room.

"Hey Xad," the blonde greeted her, "What's up?"

"I'm going to paint my room," she said, "Want to help?"

"Do I have a choice?" he asked with a small laugh, letting his sitar vanish in a flurry of bubbles.

"Not really. If you try to run I'll just put you in a headlock and drag you with me," Xadnae replied playfully.

"You don't have to do that; I'll help," he said, standing and stretching.

"Great," she said, "That's everyone then."

"Everyone?" Demyx repeated.

"Yeah. Hope you don't mind spending some time with Axel and Zexion," she said, brushing a hand through her bangs.

"You actually got Zexion to help?" Demyx said, mildly impressed, "But nah, that's cool. So long as you and Axel play nice."

"Everything's fine," she assured him.

"That's what I've heard from Xigbar," the blonde said with a knowing nod.

Her face flushed, and for a second she floundered for words. "Yeah, well, just don't go telling the whole Organization," she said at last, composing herself.

"I won't," he said, and she believed him.

"Good. Now, let's go; they're probably waiting," Xadnae said, opening a corridor of darkness.

A second later, she emerged in her room where Axel and Zexion were already.

The redhead looked up at her arrival. "Dirty tease," he accused, "You didn't tell me these two were going to be here too."

"Hey!" Demyx protested as he emerged from a second corridor, "What've you got against me?"

"Might I suggest that we focus on the task at hand?" Zexion interrupted.

"I agree," Xadnae said with a nod, moving to where she had all the supplies and began to set things up. "I want those walls black, and the other two purple," she added, pointing.

Silence followed her words, and she looked up to find the three of them staring at her. "What?" she asked defensively.

"Those are…uh, awfully dark colors," Demyx commented.

"I'm from Halloween Town, what do you expect?" she replied, sounding mildly miffed.

"Hey, that's cool, I don't have a problem with the colors," the blonde said quickly.

"I know," Xadnae said with a brief grin.

For a while they painted in silence, as any attempts at conversation died after only a few minutes, though she was sure that if they all really wanted to they could find something to talk about. She was painting the same wall as Axel, a black one, and was slowly making her way closer as she painted along the bottom.

"Hey," Axel said suddenly to get her attention.

She looked up at once, about to ask what, when he swiped his paintbrush across her nose, rendering the tip black. She blinked in surprise, clearly able to tell from the look in his eyes that this was a little payback for letting him think they'd be painting alone. Rising from her crouch, she returned the favor, ending up painting black across his cheek.

"You didn't," he said with mock disbelief.

"I did," she said, smirking slightly.

Demyx looked over at the sound of their voices, pausing in his work as he watched Axel attempt to paint Xadnae's hair. She quickly grabbed his wrist to stop him, reaching out with her own brush, and in a second they were caught in a battle of strength. It was a battle that didn't last long though, as she soon cheated. She ducked forward, rising to her toes, and kissed him.

After a second, Zexion noticed that Demyx had stopped painting and looked to the blonde to find out why. Upon seeing the Melodious Nocturne's wide-eyed expression, he looked over to Axel and Xadnae, and then his eyes widened a fraction as well.

"It would appear that painting is no longer on their agenda right now," Zexion said, setting his paintbrush down and rising, "So I shall be going."

And then he fled, leaving the room as quickly as he could without appearing to be rushing.

"Um, yeah, that sounds good," Demyx agreed, dropping his brush and jumping up.

He also fled the room, though faster and with a faint blush tinting his cheeks.

Pulling back slightly, Xadnae surveyed the now nearly empty room. "All my help!" she said scoldingly, though she was biting back a giggle.

"We scared them off," Axel purred, nuzzling his cheek against hers.

"Hey!" she yelped upon realizing that he was getting more paint on her in the process, and drew back, releasing his wrist.

Eyeing him warily, she scrubbed at her cheek with the back of one hand. He was just as cautious, she could tell, just in case she decided to make another move with her paintbrush. However, she eventually turned back to the wall they were supposed to be painting.

"Come on," she said, "Still a lot of work to do."

Of course it was all a ruse. The moment he started to turn, she reached out lightning quick, dragging her paint filled brush across the top of his hair. She wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or run at his resulting expression, and stood there frozen, trying to judge his reaction. The redhead-though now with many streaks of black-sighed, and very calmly set his paintbrush down before turning back to her.

"Don't think you're going to get away with this, small fry," he said.

"It'll wash out," she said, dropping her brush on the drop cloth and taking a step back.

"That's beside the point," he said with a slight shake of his head, starting towards her.

She turned to run, but in a split second he'd caught her around the waist, fingers finding her ticklish sides, and she squeaked, trying to get away.

"You're ticklish?" he murmured into her ear.

"No, no I'm not," she tried to protest, shivering slightly.

He poked her sides experimentally and she squeaked again. "You're not a very good liar," he commented with a sly smirk.

"If you let me go, I'll help you get the paint out of your hair," she tried hopefully.

"Let you go?" he repeated, "Why would I want to do that?"

Though she continued to protest, she smiled to herself at what he'd said. She didn't want him to let go either-though in another sense entirely. She wanted to have more moments like this-carefree, no conflict, and she wondered if the fates would be kind to her, to them. Then again…what did anybody care about Nobodies?

END


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